Battle for Azeroth: Azerite and the Heart of Azeroth

Blizzard Posted 2017/11/05 at 1:41 AM by Squishei

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BlizzCon 2017 Coverage

This Article is part of our BlizzCon 2017 Coverage.
If you are interested in knowing more about Battle for Azeroth Reveal, check one of the articles below

You can also see our full coverage in our Coverage Recap

Heart of Azeroth

You'll carry the Heart of Azeroth throughout the entire expansion. It is the new "Artifact Weapon".

The Heart of Azeroth is empowered by Azerite and will automatically absorb any nearby Azerite. No loss of bag space or time spent clicking!

Once the Heart of Azeroth absorbs enough Azerite, it can level up. Upon reaching certain levels, it will awaken some latent properties in another piece of gear.

Upgrading Gear

The current plan is that Helm, Shoulders and Chests will be able to be empowered by the Heart of Azeroth

Each of these pieces has 3 rings; each ring has multiple traits on it. When a ring is unlocked, players will be able to choose a single trait to learn.

The outer ring unlocks first and consists of 4 possible choices. The middle ring unlocks second and consists of 3 possible choices. The inner ring unlocks last and consists of 2 possible choices.

A piece with the same name will have the exact same layout of traits -- You'll be able to see it in the Dungeon Journal. No RNG!

However, higher item level pieces will have more powerful traits, but Azerite attuned pieces cannot titanforge.

Offensive traits will also be paired on the same ring as other offensive traits. Utility traits will always be paired on the same ring as other utility traits. This will create meaningful choices.

Once you choose a trait, the ring will rotate until your choice is at the top!

Magni Bronzebeard

"The King of Diamonds is made a pawn."
“Five keys to open our way. Five torches to light our path.”
“The Lord of Ravens will turn the key.”

the Black Empire postAzerite

As the suffers and bleeds due to the Horde and Alliance conflict, her life essence bleeds onto the surface and crystallizes in to a powerful substance called Azerite.

The Goblins and Gnomes have developed technology that allows players to determine which islands have Azerite on them and allows for the Island Expeditions feature.
Azerite can be found in nodes, chests, creatures, questgivers, powerful bosses and more!

Blizzard Blog

Blizzard

The Heart of AzerothIn the aftermath of the Legion’s assault on Azeroth, the world is teetering on the brink. As the Horde and the Alliance battle, the very essence of Azeroth is seeping out. It’s up to you to not only defend your faction, but to also defend Azeroth herself.Early on in Battle for Azeroth, Magni Bronzebeard will entrust you with a powerful artifact to wear around your neck throughout your journey: the Heart of Azeroth, which represents the hopes and dreams of the world.
Over the course of the expansion, you’ll encounter Azerite, an incredible new resource that’s appeared in the wake of the Legion’s demise. As you gather this substance, you’ll use it to empower the Heart of Azeroth. Unlike the artifact weapons that heroes wielded in Legion, the Heart of Azeroth is not itself an item that you will customize; instead, it will serve as a source of power that awakens latent properties of some other pieces of armor that you’ll wear throughout your adventures.Speaking of gear, we’ll also be performing another stat “squish,” like we did in Warlords of Draenor, to bring player health and damage numbers down to more comprehensible numbers without affecting players’ actual effectiveness against the foes around them.

Battle for Azeroth at BlizzCon 2017

Battle for Azeroth, World of Warcraft's next expansion was revealed!

6 Allied Races are being added in the expansion with custom appearances and special Heritage Armor sets.
We previewed the Lightforged Draenei and Highmountain Tauren races on the show floor.

Zandalari can be druids!

Dungeon Journal was available

The Design a Dungeon Boss panel also highlighted the Shrine of the Storm Dungeon.

class changes

We also found that Class Buffs are returning in the expansion, with one for every class (except Shamans).

We also looked at all the large Talent Changes and some classes got Artifact Traits available as Talents.

Blizzard discussed these topics in some interviews.

Wowhead's interview

An item level and stat squish update is coming in Battle for Azeroth.

Legendaries and Titanforging info was revealed, including no Titanforging on Azerite armor.

The Heart of Azeroth is empowered by Azerite and can empower latent energies in pieces of gear.

Island ExpeditionsKul Tiras and Zandalar

Check out more expansion art in the Art of WoW Panel.

Stormwind and Orgrimmar also received updates!

WarfrontsWarcraft Q&A

We learned increased default bagpack slots are on the way if you use an authenticator.

At the end of the Q&A we also learned that the Battle for Azeroth Beta Opt-In is now open.

coming in Patch 7.3.5

Zone Scaling and Leveling Improvements - all pre-Legion zones will now scale up to certain levels.

Ulduar Timewalking will be the second Timewalking raid, as part of the Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking Event.

previewed at the Opening Ceremony

The events of the cinematic were transformed into a record-setting diorama for the Battle of Lordaeron.

The novel Before the Storm covers the events leading up to the cinematic. The book cover was revealed and convention-goers received a copy of the Prologue.

We speculated on the Burning of Teldrassil which directly leads to the Battle for Lordaeron.

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Comment by HegrodGreat news :) I'm really glad that system know from legendary weapons will stay, but in different form :) Can't wait to check it.Comment by THENWPOh this is going to be all sorts of messed up, I wish I was just being an ass, but the M+ grind was changed because of the weapons. So now we have a system that from what it sounds like encourages random afk botting or just walking around nonstop. Feels like mining to make new stuff to mine with.Comment by ScaryfunDont think this will be as excited as spec-tied weapons. Looks too dumbed down imo and not as cool as having individual, lore-filled weapons.Comment by OakAshesYay for no token in bags and no double farming for dual spec characters.Comment by finearim so excitedComment by TartsReally looking foward to finished system :DComment by lovs2buildSo we are getting another artifact type weapon?

You'll carry the Heart of Azeroth throughout the entire expansion. It is the new "Artifact Weapon".

I am interested to learn more about the new talents and upgrading gear.Comment by LoDvampireInteresting that the three pieces it can upgrade are also 3 of the six set piecesComment by InterestThis looks kind of interesting and is a direction that's pretty different from what I was considering. I have to wonder how well it's going to work out as a progression system since this one seems like it's more prone to hitting a limit. That in itself is fine, I guess - more room for an actual Paragon system.Comment by sycroglooking forward to this new system. Can't be worse than artifact weapons :DComment by deathbecomezherSo what about weapons? Any word on those yet?Comment by Tueftleri mean the core concept sounds cool, but as always we just have to wait for the final release versionComment by EraclitoI dearly hope it's not going to end like Artifacts, the system's currently too annoying.

And, just a little post-related... that crystal Magni model looks awesome every time i see it~Comment by RuthlessKittenI’m open to trying this and seeing how it goes!Comment by ScrobblesArtifact tree - one weapon for entire expansion = happy ScrobblesComment by kragthangCan't wait for szenarios. Really enjoyed them with my friends during Pandaria. Also, it is easier to find 2 people who would like to do achievements than 4 or 9.Comment by BazrzokhThis is a much better system than the artifact was. Looking forward to trying it ingame.Comment by Unknown831Already looking for a catch up system for my alts!Comment by kilari7I like the fact that it happens automatically without any clicking and occupying bag spaces like ap tokens.Comment by FiddleGrimPreach mentioned the idea of a potential removal of tier sets with the advent of Azerite armor pieces. He suggested that since the azerite slots take up head, shoulders, and chest, it would make them OP if tier sets *also* get empowered by the Heart of Azeroth. I'm a bit concerned that with the talk of changes to the War/Titanforging system, the addition of azerite empowerment to heroic and mythic tier gear is going to push hardcore far ahead of the casual players. Not so much because that's a necessarily bad thing, as because that flies in the face of what Blizzard has been trying to do all throughout Legion. All of the systems in place throughout Legion have been about compressing that divide, reducing the power disparity between those who mythic, and those who don't. This seems to turn that completely around. I dunno. I'm ambivalent.

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